For today’s ‘5 Minutes With’ John Auer we learn more about the quiet professional on the Business Intelligence team. When John isn’t Getting Stuff Done for clients, he’s a family man. AND he’s getting ready for life with a newborn–John and his wife are expecting their first child soon! Good luck with those first few sleepless nights, John!
Oh and you might be wondering where you’ve seen him before—-he was the star of a viral video on Greencastle’s Instagram—check it out here!
What was the last TV show you binged?
My wife and I are binging through the 35 seasons of The Amazing Race on Paramount+. It’s a long-running game show where 11 to 12 teams of two race across the globe and compete in various local culture-themed challenges. The last team to arrive to the pit stop of each episode is eliminated from the race and the first team to arrive at the finish line in the season finale wins 1 million dollars. We love seeing all the different countries and cultures as teams navigate language barriers and face-off in wildly creative challenges.
Ideally, how would you spend your birthday?
I’ve already done this a few times! My ideal birthday is a quiet and relaxing day at the beach, preferably waking up early that morning in an oceanside hotel to catch the sunrise. There’s just something about the August ocean that’s so calming and warm. Summer’s coming to it’s yearly close and spending the time at the ocean reflecting on life is just relaxing. Somehow, doing that reminds me life isn’t all that bad and everything is going to be OK.
What are you most looking forward to in the next six months?
An easy answer for me: my wife and I are expecting our first child! I never wanted to be a father until 7 years ago when my best friend became a father. The immediate and beautiful change that happened to him when he held his daughter gave me pause and I considered where my life was going. At the end of that, I realized actually I do want a family. Many years later, I have a lovely wife and we are ready to receive our first little blessing!
What is your definition of success?
A little bit of a spiritual answer but I define success as the outcome that most conforms to love. Love in this sense isn’t about personal relationships but does the solution point to something higher than the sum of its parts? Said another way, does it fit exactly how it should fit? Not an easy question to answer or even ask! So, did we define what that would look like? Did we collaborate on reaching it in the most efficient, empathetic, and reasonable way? Figuring this out to execute upon is very fulfilling and how I define success in my own understanding.
What energizes you about your career?
The challenge of being an implementation consultant is what energizes me. It’s tough work. Huge teams and projects are depending on Greencastle when failure is not an option. Delivering upon that and then going the extra mile is not just a personal value, but exactly the culture Greencastle cultivates. It’s amazing to be part of a company that takes that so seriously.
Name your three favorite songs and why people should listen to them.
-Midnight Sun by The Sounds – This is the perfect rock song. Perfectly paced, perfectly sounding, the emotions it invokes are exactly what the band wants to evoke… absolutely perfect song. All the separate music sections dance into each other. The lyrics are so fun and singable. If you want to hear a “just perfect” song, this is it.
-New Divide by Linkin Park – All my guy friends growing up loved Linkin Park. If we weren’t talking about Call of Duty or Halo on the playground, we were talking about Linkin Park. Their earliest work was very solid and angry but they infamously went softer in the mid 2000s. Not gonna lie, their first attempt at this softer style didn’t land. They sounded whiny and without confidence. However, they stuck to their change and by the time they released New Divide, they figured out how to mix their classic sound with their new sound, crossing the new divide they faced in their career, if you will. I recommend this song because of this. It’s a successful song coming off of a hard point in a band’s career.
-Disposable Heroes by Metallica – I have always loved music. I remember very fondly listening to the Batman theme song with my dad as a little boy. I would enjoy listening to the popular radio music of the 90s and early 2000s but when I first heard Metallica, I felt like I discovered a hidden gold mine. Never in my life had I heard anything that sounded like classic Metallica. What little money I did have was spent on buying their CDs. I was hooked! Metallica was really a huge part of my life for a good ten years where I did that teenager/young adult thing where my identity was based on my music preferences. I even took leave in the Air Force to see them live. Disposable Heroes itself isn’t their most popular song but it’s one of their heaviest and most distilled. My favorite song of all time since I was 15. Give it a listen to explore very accessible and very polished heavy metal.
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